Finn World Masters in Medemblik - Day 2
by Robert Deaves 17 Jun 2025 13:12 PDT
15-20 June 2025
Pieter-Jan Postma, from The Netherlands, is leading the fleet of 307 Finns from 27 countries after everyone sailed two more races at the 2025 Finn World Masters in Medemblik. France's Laurent Hay is second with Germany's Fabian Lemmel in third.
The huge fleet is split into four randomly allocated groups each day, on with two starts on two course areas with Finns filling up the Ijsselmeer off Medemblik from horizon to horizon. Two races, with eight starts, were again sailed in an offshore shifty breeze, though more stable than Monday. The conditions on Day 2 were again sublime, with a warm 8-10 knots in the first race, with wall-to-wall sunshine, increasing to 12-15 in the second with more cloud cover.
Of the first day's race winners, Postma was the only one to maintain a perfect score, winning both races in blue group. Both Hay and Lemmel were also in blue. With four groups, points can build up very quickly, so every place won or lost is critical.
New Zealand's Brendon Hogg is in 44 overall and narrowly missed winning the first race today. He said, "I have to say today was a fantastic day, I managed to get myself a second position in race one, in what I say was a building west-south westerly and just a fantastic day of racing and a couple of good battles with some good guys. I know everybody is just enjoying themselves. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day, things have been quite mixed and everybody is going to have a shot."
After a less-than-ideal start to the week on Monday, Martijn van Muyden, from The Netherlands, won both races in green group, while the yellow group races were won by fellow Dutch, Karel van Hellemond and Spain's David Terol, while the red group races were won by Finland's Sami Salmona and Ukraine's Taras Havrysh
Sweden's Fredrik Tegnhed, had a first day to forget with two letter scores, but bounced back today with two top 10s. He said, "I didn't have a very good day yesterday, I got two yellow flags but it is what it is. But today I got a seventh and a ninth is some pretty breezy conditions and I am happy. I am a light Finn sailor and I only weigh 86 kgs. Medemblik is an amazing place, I really enjoy the sailing area and the social events after racing. Everything is very well organised."
The day ended with a Code Zero sponsored snacks and drinks at the famous Café Brakeboer in the old harbour. The Finn class has a long history in Medemblik. The 1963 and 1982 Finn Gold Cups were sailed here, as well as the 2008 Finn World Masters, at the time the largest Finn event ever sailed with 229 entries. And of course, the Finn was sailing the original SPA regatta from the beginning, from outside the Brakeboer.
After Monday's long day on the water, pharmacies in Medemblik were reported to have sold out of painkillers. Tuesday was harder sailing, if somewhat shorter, so perhaps the attractions of the Brakeboer will be a suitable substitute for the traditional pain killers.
Wednesday will be an easier day for the fleet with just one afternoon race, after the Annual Finn Masters meeting in the morning, and followed by the Masters Dinner in the evening.
Four more races are scheduled with racing continuing until Friday.
Results after Day 2: (top ten, 4 races)
1. NED 842 Pieter-Jan POSTMA 4pts
2. FRA 75 Laurent HAŸ 7pts
3. GER 501 Fabian LEMMEL 10pts
4. NED 844 Roy HEINER 18pts
5. NED 98 Nanno SCHUTTRUPS 18pts
6. ESP 7 David TEROL 19pts
7. UKR 8 Taras HAVRYSH 21pts
8. NED 703 Eric BAKKER 27pts
9. AUS 2 Rob McMILLAN 28pts
10. AUS 221 Anthony NOSSITER 31pts